The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies Villa I Tatti Via di Vincigliata 26, 50135 Florence, Italy Volume 23 E-mail:
[email protected] / Web: http://www.itatti.it—,m— Telephone: +39-055-603-251 / Fax: +39-055-603-383 Autumn 2003 ur first year has passed in the blink windows and balconies everywhere. The Oof an eye. On 2 September 2002, Letter from Florence invasion came on March 20th, and not a Françoise and I rounded the last mad P few of the Fellows had to reconcile their curve of the Via di Vincigliata to our disapproval of American military hege- new home, and to life amidst a commu- mony with a respect, I think real and nity of Fellows who were even newer to growing, for American educational insti- I Tatti than we were. Six mother tutions, especially the one they were in. tongues (Bulgarian and Czech in addi- Good will on the part of everyone got us tion to the mainstream four) quickly through a difficult time. boiled down to two dominant In the end the Fellows were here to Sprachgebiete at the lunch table, and with work, and work they did, culminating in goodwill on everyone’s part and the help most of them giving shop talks in the Big of bilingual bridge personalities a com- Library. We experimented with the out- munity gradually took shape. Short trips side lecture format, compressing the time helped give us a sense of camaraderie, for refreshments but expanding that first to the Scuola Normale in Pisa with allotted to questions.